Synopsis:&nbsp
Inspired by true events, "The Children of Huang Shi" tells how a young
Englishman came to lead sixty
orphaned boys on an extraordinary journey of almost a thousand
perilous miles across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains to
safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert. And of how, in doing so,
he came to understand the true meaning of courage.

(08/29/08)
- The Children of Huang Shi will be released in South Korea on
September 18th. Image at right: Korean poster (click to enlarge).

- The film has been showing around the U.S. since May 23 as a limited release. Last weekend
it was still being shown in 26 theatres (the maximum number of theatres during this period was 43).

(07/08/08)
- Under the title of "Children of the Silk Road", the film was released in Australia
on July 3rd. The Australian premiere of the film took place on June 14 during
the 55th Sydney Film Festival.
Article links:
&nbsp &nbsp The Long March
&nbsp (Sydney Morning Herald)&nbsp &nbsp Action Queen Turns Dramatic
&nbsp (The Age)

- The Children of Huang Shi has been showing in North America
for seven weeks. The maximum number of screens at some point was
43 and the current domestic box office is $589,126.

(06/09/08)
The film opens in France on June 11. French title: "Les Orphelins de Huang Shi".

(06/02/08)
- In North American market, Sony Pictures Classics expanded
The Children of Huang Shi to 17 locations from the previous seven.
The current domestic box is $116,000.

- Some scenes we have mentioned before or even seen in released
video clips are cut from the final release. This includes Chow
Yun-Fat's kissing with Radha Mitchell and Michelle rebuking gangsters.
The very first scene of the film was filmed in Australia. After the filming in China
completed on February 15, 2007, a reduced crew moved to Australia
and had one final day of principal photography in Melbourne Victoria.

- A 20 minutes audio
Interview with Roger Spottiswoode
from the New York press junket. The two books mentioned by Spottiswoode,
"Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China" and "Mao: The Unknown Story",
written by Jung Chang, are available at Amazon
(12).
The books give excellent pictures of the modern China under the communist rule
and are recommended for anyone who is interested in China. I would also
highly recommend "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party"
(Read online: English&nbsp
Traditional Chinese&nbsp
Simplified Chinese).

(05/21/08)
- The Children of Huang Shi will start its limited release in NY
and LA this Friday. The cinemas which will show the film on May 23
are: New York: Paris Theatre and Landmark's Sunshine Cinemas.
Los Angeles: Landmark (West LA), Laemmle's Playhouse 7 (Pasadena), Town Center 5 (Encino),
Regency South Coast (Santa Ana), Edwards Atlantic Palace 10 (Alhambra).
The film opens in Canada on June 6.

(05/18/08)
Director Roger Spottiswoode and actress Radha Mitchell attended The Children of Huang Shi
premiere at the DGA Theater on May 18, 2008 in New York City.
(click on photos to enlarge. photos from "Wire Image" and "Getty Images"):

(05/16/08)
Michelle and director Roger Spottiswoode attended the L.A. premiere of The Children of Huang Shi
yesterday evening.

(05/15/08)
- The U.S. premiere of The Children of Huang Shi will take place
today - Thursday May 15, 7:30pm at the Landmark Theatre of the
Westside Pavilion in West L.A.. A post-screening reception will follow.

- The Australian premiere of the film is scheduled on June 14th during the 55th
Sydney Film Festival.
Under the title of "Children of the Silk Road", the film will be
released by Fox Searchlight in Australia in July.

(05/13/08)
The New York premiere of The Children of Huang Shi will take place on Sunday May 18th. Screening
of the film will begin at 6:30pm at the DGA Theater, with pre-screening
and post-screening receptions. For details and tickets see
The American Red Cross in Greater New York.
Currently Jonathan Rhys Myeres, Radha Mitchell, director Roger Spottiswoode,
and writers are scheduled to attend.

(05/07/08)
- Press roundtables for The Children of Huang Shi will be held
on May 15 in Los Angeles and May 19 in New York. Jonathan Rhys Meyers
and director Roger Spottiswoode are scheduled to attend both events.
The film will hit cinemas
in LA and NY on May 23 and expand to other locations in the U.S. later.

- More images of The Children of Huang Shi(click to enlarge. "Baidu" photos):

Michelle's Madame Wang

(05/05/08)
Official poster of The Children of Huang Shi, released by Sony Pictures Classics
(click to enlarge).
For more posters of this film see Posters.

(04/30/08)
Director Roger Spottiswoode talks about the complication during filming in China:

"You can't get dailies (quickly processed footage of the previous day's shoot) in China, the labs aren't very good, so we processed in Melbourne. The film was shipped back as DVD but they censor everything, so of course the DVDs never arrive or take months to arrive.

"You finish shooting before you see any dailies, but my editor, Geoff Lamb, would cut away at Digital Pictures and within a day everything I'd shot the day before he would have edited and put it up as a podcast.
All the way through the shoot, no matter how remote we were, I at least was seeing cut film all the way through."
&nbsp (The Age)

(04/30/08)
The film will be released in Australia under the title "Children of the Silk Road".
20th Century Fox has picked up the distribution rights for the film in the country,
reported "Screen Daily".

(04/24/08)The Children of Huang Shi will open on May 23 in selected
theatres in New York and Los Angeles, including some Laemmle Theatre
locations. Running time 114 minutes. Limited release.

(04/24/08)
We have reported use of the name of "Huang Shi" in the film title is the result
of a spelling error (an "S" is missing from the name "Shuang Shi").
While officials of Huangshi City, Hubei Province are very pleased that their name
got to be known because of the film, people in Shuangshipu Town, Feng County, Shaanxi
Province are extremely disappointed. One of the surviving "George Hogg's children" who was
invited to the film premiere in Huangshi
was so upset that he refused to go. Yesterday the local officials of Feng County
sent a formal letter to China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television
requesting the name of the film to be changed from "The Children of Huang Shi" to
"The Children of Shuang Shi", or adding a subtitle "The story happened in Shuangshipu,
Shaanxi Province" at the beginning of the film.
Today's Shuangshipu Town is still undeveloped and the town does not even have a cinema nearby.
Meanwhile Huangshi local officials insisted that the real George Hogg had been in Huangshi
and they even faked some "evidence" to "prove" it.

The boxoffice of The Children of Huang Shi in China is
unimpressive. Reviews are mixed - more negative than positive.

(04/01/08)
- Titled as "Escape from Huang Shi", the film was premiered in Taipei,
Taiwan on March 31. Some local celebrities attended the event.
Taiwan's Rouge Entertainment Group is one of the co-production
companies.

- A press conference and the Mainland China premiere ceremony of The Children of Huang Shi
were held in Huangshi City, Hubei Province on March 31. More than 100 reporters
- mostly from Mainland China - attended the activities. The
attendees included actor Chow Yun-Fat, director Roger Spottiswoode,
producer Arthur Cohn, cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding and several
child actors. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell did not attend
the premeire although the Chinese organizer kept claiming they would come
even the day before. Being the only main actor at the premiere activities, Chow
Yun-Fat was the absolute center focus. A press screening was held on
the morning of the 31st in Huangshi. The official "premiere
screening" in Mainland China was held at the Xinshiji Cinema in Beijing on
April 1st. Director Roger Spottiswoode and several child actors
attended the Beijing premiere.

Before the press conference in Huangshi, every reporter received a printed "press
release" from the Chinese organizer, which included the shocking title
"Director Angry On Two Leads' Absence". The piece said Jonathan Rhys Meyers
was busy with a new film project and Radha Mitchell felt the trip was
too much trouble and refused to come. It said the director complained
the two leads "have no discipline" and said it's silly if someone
thinks the Chinese market is not important.

However, reporters who attended the press conference reported that the
director did not show any anger, but instead, showed understanding and
explained Meyers and Mitchell were both in the U.S., shooting a new
film and testing for a new role respectively, and it was not possible
for them to make the trip which basically would cost them a week. Both
of them sent in video greetings. Reporters already knew in advance that Michelle
would be absent due to a schedule conflict. She was in New York yesterday attending
the United Nations General Assembly as an ambassador for the Make Roads Safe campaign
(for photos and reports see News).

According to Huangshi local media, more than 15,000 people attended the
evening premiere ceremony. About 1,100 police were used for security. Reportedly
large-scale activities such as this will be restricted soon in many places
in Mainland China, since the government fears any large
gathering may turn into an anti-government demonstration before the
Olympics.

(03/28/08)
Huangshi local media reported that the premiere screening in China will be held at
Huangshi Theatre in Huangshi City, April 1. A press conference is scheduled in Huangshi
on the afternoon of March 31st. Director Roger Spottiswoode, actor Chow Yun-Fat and
actress Radha Mitchell will meet with audiences at the evening premiere
ceremony/concert on the 31st, according to the Huangshi news.

In a recent "Sina" interview Roger Spottiswoode said he spent eight years to make this film.
First they spent three to four years to write and polish the script, then another two years
looking for funding, then two more years looking for good actors. He also said Michelle
and Chow Yun-Fat are the two actors that were fixed from the beginning of the project.
Asked how he combines East and West in this film, Spottiswoode said
that only Chinese audiences can answer this question. He said when they had test
screenings in the U.S., the audience did not think this film is suitable for Americans.

(03/26/08)
- The Children of Huang Shi received an MPAA Rating "R"
for "some disturbing and violent content".

- Video: Chow Yun-Fat at the Hong Kong premiere[02:00] (in Mandarin and Cantonese)The Chinese reporter said all main cast members except Michelle attended the
Hong Kong premiere (world premiere?). But in fact Chow Yun-Fat
was the only person there from the "Huang Shi" team. The Hong Kong
English title of the film is "Escape from Huang Shi".
Director Roger Spottiswoode arrived in China and accepted some
interviews. The Mainland Chinese media are still referring the premiere
activities in Huangshi and Beijing as the "world premiere."

left: Chow Yun-Fat at the Hong Kong premiere, March 25
right: film poster on a bus in Beijing
&nbsp (click to enlarge)

(03/24/08)
- The Children of Huang Shi will be premiered in Hong Kong tomorrow
(March 25th). Hong Kong media reported Chow Yun-Fat will be attending.

- Cheerland Entertainment announced today that the premiere of
The Children of Huang Shi in Mainland China will be held in
Beijing (not in Huangshi) on April 1st.
On the 31st there will be a large charity "premiere party" in the
evening in Huangshi City, Hubei Province, as scheduled.

- China's "The First" had an interview with director Roger Spottiswoode.
Spottiswoode said the center of the film is the children. There were
25 children, ranging from 7 to 15 years old, with the filming team
throughout the production. "They surprised me," said Spottiswoode,
"They brought many new elements to the film."
Asked how fictionalized the film story is, Spottiswoode answered that
the real Hogg did see many crimes which were committed by Japanese
soldiers but they don't know whether he witnessed the infamous
Nanjing Massacre.

(03/21/08)
- The Children of Huang Shi will be screened at the New York Film Critics Series's
Morristown spring season show (April 2-May 21),
reported "Daily Record".

- During the past few days several test screenings were held to selected
Chinese media in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. The reports were mixed.
Beijing media gave very positive reports and said the film is real and
touching. Guangzhou's "Yangcheng Evenings" said the film is too
westernized and they called the Children of Huang Shi "Children of the West".
Some audiences laughed at Chow Yun-Fat's character, saying the
character looked "fake". Reporters said it's pity that Chow Yun-Fat
and Michelle did not share any scene at all.

(03/20/08)
Hong Kong poster (click to enlarge). Looks like in Asian countries (except for Mainland China)
the English title of the film is "Escape From Huang Shi" but Mainland,
Hong Kong and Taiwan all have different Chinese titles and posters.

- Videos:
&nbsp &nbsp Chinese commercial[00:41] (may need IE to watch)&nbsp &nbsp Michelle Yeoh as Madame Wang[01:56] (in Chinese and English) &nbsp &nbsp This TV special features an interview of Michelle (in English) and some
film scenes between Michelle and Jonathan Rhys Meyers while
both of them can be heard dubbed in Mandarin Chinese.

- Although the appearance of the name of "Huang Shi" in the film is merely a
spelling error (an "S" is missing from the original name "Shuang Shi"),
Huangshi city officials are making the film premiere "the largest
propaganda activity in the city's history" (quoting their own words).
The three days of activities
will last from March 30th to April 1st. A press conference will be
held on March 31st and the film premiere will be on April 1st.
There will also be a large party on the evening of March 31st.
The poster for the premiere highlighted several popular singers
and the Chinese organizers hope those names can attract a larger
audience to the premiere. In order to
give guests, including higher officials and international film stars
and crew, a good impression of the city, the local officials ordered
to renovate the locations which are related to the premiere: main roads,
the Huangshi Sports Center, and the hotel. And they also started to
enforce the traffic and environmental sanitation regulations
this week, such as "no littering on roadways", "no spitting",
"no racing when driving", etc.. Some Chinese blog users commented
it is a "typical Chinese way" of staging a show.

(03/17/08)
- Last week the film was shown to a group of Chinese cinema managers. The reaction
was mixed. Some thought the characters were developed well and others thought
the story lacks a dramatic peak to attract wider audiences.

- Although on the official English website the character of Jack Chen (played by
Chow Yun-Fat) is simply described as "the leader of a Chinese partisan group",
on the official Chinese website it is said to be "a communist party member...
who devotes his life to the Revolutionary Cause". While many local and
foreign films faced obstacles from the Chinese authorities,
The Children of Huang Shi got all greenlights
inside Mainland China. In light of more than
33,000,000 people
having withdrawn from the CCP
(Chinese Communist Party) or its affiliated organizations
since 2004, the CCP government seems to be taking the release of this film as an
opportunity to boost the party's image in China.

(03/14/08)
The Chinese title of the film in Taiwan is "Huang Shi Ren Wu"
(translation: "Huang Shi Mission"). English title:
"Escape From Huang Shi". The release date in Taiwan is April 3rd.

- Last October, sponsored by Family of Daye and Dongchu, a Huangshi local news network,
a group of 7 people including 3 reporters spent one week on a special trip: "Looking for
footprints of children of Huangshi". Their trip started in Feng County of Shaanxi Province,
where Shuangshipu Town is located, and ended in Shandan, Gansu Province. In olden days Feng
County was called Shuangshi Town and that was where George Hogg started transferring the
school children from (to Shandan). They did not find anything about George Hogg during the
trip until their last stop, Shandan. As one of the past headmasters, Hogg's name is well-known
at the Shandan Bailie School (rebuilt in 1985). But it seems no one in Shandan knows of Hogg's
past prior his arriving in Shandan. Their discovery also concluded that using the name of
"Huang Shi" (Huangshi) in the script/film is possibly the result of a misspelling of the
placename in Chinese. It should be "Shuang Shi" (double stones), Shaanxi Province, instead
of "Huang Shi" (yellow stone), Hubei Province. Nevertheless, the film's name remains "Children of Huang Shi."

(03/06/08)
A poster on Michelle's Madame Wang character in The Children of Huang Shi
was released to Chinese media today. Guest starring in the film, Michelle
modestly asked her name not to be used as a main star in the film promotion,
and in the original contract with the film companies, she would not appear
on posters. But seeing Michelle's name as one of the main attractions
to the audience, the Chinese distribution company broke the contract and put
Michelle's image on all their promotional materials including official posters.
Michelle's U.S. agent thus decided to withdraw from all promotional activities
of The Children of Huang Shi in Mainland China. The news of Michelle
not appearing in promotion caused stirs in Chinese media. Cheerland Entertainment
said today that after discussions, a new agreement has been reached. Michelle's
images will be allowed to be used in posters in China and Southeast Asia
and Michelle may participate in some promotional activities in Asia if time allows.

(03/03/08)
- Chinese Promotional MV
of The Children of Huang Shi.
[04:03] &nbsp Frankly, I don't find the "love song" fits with
the theme of the film.

- Hong Kong media reported that the main reason Michelle is skipping the premiere
of The Children of Huang Shi is a schedule conflict. Also, Michelle's
appearance in the film is as a guest star, and modestly, she does not want to attract
a lot of attention to herself.

- The Hong Kong Chinese title of the film is "Zhan Huo Tao Cheng" (translation:
The City of Refuge in Flames of War).

(03/02/08)
Michelle will not attend the premiere or other promotional activities of
The Children of Huang Shi in China, Cheerland Entertainment confirmed today.

(02/27/08)
- China's Cheerland Entertainment invited Li Bingbing (who starred as "Jane"
in Michelle's Silver Hawk) to perform
a promotional song for The Children of Huang Shi. A MV of the song,
which will include many scenes from the film, is planned to be
released in China in early March. Li Bingbing will attend the film
premiere and perform the song there.

According to Chinese media, the territories which have the April 3rd release date of
The Children of Huang Shi include Mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia,
and Thailand. The film is scheduled to release in Europe at the end
of April, and North America on May 23rd.

- There have been questions rising in China regarding the accuracy
of the film story. Several days ago, Mr. Nie Guangtao, one of the
real survivors from the period, questioned why Huangshi (aka Huang Shi)
was chosen as the original historical location for the film story and title, while George
Hogg's actual trip started in Shuangshipu, Shaanxi Province instead of
Huangshi, Hubei Province. In response to the questions, Ms. Hou Li, a
Chinese side executive producer of The Children of Huang Shi and the
general manager of Cheerland Entertainment, the Chinese distributor
of the film, said to the media that the story,
including the title and location, were written by foreigners, and it is a
fictional story, not a documentary. "The script writer is British. The foreign
filmmakers might not have known the geography and history of China very
well," said Hou.

Nevertheless, Huangshi local officials are very excited about their
city's name becoming well known because of the film. Though they felt pity that they can
not find related historical sites to show to tourists. Hou Li confirmed
that the premiere will be held on March 31st in Huangshi, and she said
Chow Yun-Fat and Jonathan Rhys Meyers have "almost confirmed" they well
attend the premiere. They are still pursuing Michelle and Radha Mitchell.

- Video download: Making of "The Children of Huang Shi" with Michelle Yeoh
&nbsp (01:33, 19.8MB, in Chinese and English)It's from Chinese TV, featuring Michelle, Jonathan Rhys Meyers,
Radha Mitchell, and director Roger Spottiswoode. The film is in
English but apparently some dialogs were shot in Mandarin Chinese.

(02/15/08)
Sony Classics has officially announced that the U.S. release date of
The Children of Huang Shi is May 23rd. Reportedly the world premiere
will be held on March 31rd in the Huangshi Sports Center, Huangshi City, Hubei Province.

(02/06/08)
A Chinese movie novel, "The Children of Huang Shi", based on the movie script by James MacManus
and Jane Hawksley and edited by Lao Mei, has been published in China by Jieli Publishing House.

- Chinese media reported that the voice dubbing for the Chinese version of
The Children of Huang Shi has been finished in Beijing. Neither Chow Yun-Fat
nor Michelle dubbed their lines for this (Mandarin) Chinese version, that is, the
audiences in Mainland China won't hear the actual voices from any of the main actors.

(01/25/08)
Several movie websites listed The Children of Huang Shi has an
U.S. theatrical release date on May 23, 2008, limited release.

(01/21/08)
Cheerland Entertainment, the Chinese distributor of The Children of Huang Shi, has released
an official trailer of the film. They also claimed the previous one which has been circling
on internet was not official.
Watch the trailer(01:58, in English and Chinese)

(01/07/08)
A Chinese poster of The Children of Huang Shi has been released to the media.
(click to enlarge) According to Chinese reports, the
film is scheduled to be released in China and a few other Asian territories
on April 3rd.

(01/04/08)
According to Huang Shi local news, at the end of last month, a Huang Shi
city official discussed the premiere with Chinese distributor Cheerland.
The report said the global premiere will be held in
Huang Shi city, Hubei Province, between March 29 and 31. The release
date is said to be April 3rd.

(12/28/07)
According to Chinese media, Sony Classics has decided not to push
The Children of Huang Shi for the 2008 Oscars despite the reactions from several test
screenings, which were all excellent. The Chinese distributor Cheerland
expressed their disappointment. Reportedly release of the film is being aimed
for April of 2008.

(12/12/07)
December 13th marks the the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre.
In commemmoration, the production company released several related film images.
The Children of Huang Shi is not exactly about the massacre itself,
but nearly one third of the story is set in the background of the event.
In order to re-create the reality of the Nanjing Massacre, the film spent
5 million on rebuilding 1937 Nanjing sets basing their work on thousands of archived
photos and films from the time period.

(12/05/07)
- While Mainland Chinese media have been reporting that producer Arthur Cohn
is considering using his own resources to arrange a 7 day Oscars
qualifying run for the film this month at a Los Angeles theater,
Hong Kong's "Oriental Daily" has reported that the film's production
companies are aiming to have the premiere at the Berlin International
Film Festival next February.
Hong Kong based Filmko Entertainment co-financed the production and
is responsible for the sales of eight Asian territories excluding
Japan and Korea.

- Shanghai's "The Bund" had an interview with Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Asked how he felt working with Chinese actors such as Chow
Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, Meyers said: "I'm very happy to have a
chance to work with them. Chow Yun-Fat is an outstanding actor. He's
also a caring person and everyone on set likes him, including me.
Michelle is an extremely charming lady. I'm honored to have shared several
scenes with her. In one of the scenes her character gave me a book called 'The
Silk Road'." (photo at right: "The Children of Huang Shi".
Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Michelle's shop. click to enlarge)

- Two Chow Yun-Fats!

In the left photo is Chow Yun-Fat (right) and his
double, Cheng Penglin, during the filming of The Children of Huang Shi.
The photo at right is Cheng Penglin and the children during the Gansu
filming in early December, 2006.
(photos from Sina blogs)

(11/27/07)
According to Chinese media, the Chinese distributor Cheerland said that
Sony Classics is planning for an Oscars qualifying run for the film before the
end of December. By the Academy's rules, a film has to have a run of at
least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theater in
Los Angeles County between January 1, 2007 and midnight of December 31, 2007
in order to qualify to be considered for the next year's Academy Awards.

Two pictures of Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Children of Huang Shi(click to enlarge):

(11/23/07)
New images from The Children of Huang Shi, released by Chinese distributor
Cheerland Entertainment (click to enlarge).

"This is a personal journey through a world that is extraordinarily
different from our hero's English beginnings, and even more, it's a
world that challenges the very roots of our hero's ethics and assumptions.

At its opening and again at the climax, the film has an epic sweep. We
start in Shanghai and then move to Nanking. Great cities and a whole way
of life are collapsing under the Japanese occupation. During the last
act of the film takes us along the historic Silk Road as it crosses
remote mountains and deserts.

At the heart of the film are the children and three intertwined stories:
George Hogg and China, George and the children and George and Lee. It is
also the story of a young Englishman having to grow up and discover who
he is in the midst of a war in a foreign land.

The Orphanage where much of the story takes place is an abandoned
compound of old buildings surrounding a series of courtyards. It is a
place of haunting beauty and strong memories. The journey along The Silk
Road takes us through rugged, near-impassable mountains and then out
into the vastness at the edge of the Gobi desert.

It is a story that takes place in a world that is gritty and terrifying,
and yet lyrical and mysterious as well. It will be film that engages us
by showing much that separate our cultures and yet speaks also to the
basic humanity we all share." &nbsp&nbsp - Roger Spottiswoode

(11/15/07)
China's "Dalian Evening" reported that The Children of Huang Shi
has been submitted to Chinese authorities for approval. According to
the report, the production companies are prepared to cut off certain scenes
upon the authority's request, including a kissing scene between Chow
Yun-Fat's character and Radha Mitchell's, since they expect the
CCP government may not want to see a communist military officer
having a relationship with a westerner. The scene was filmed
at the old Governor's building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family
in Lanzhou a year ago.

(click to enlarge. "Sina" photos)

- A novel, which is based on the movie story and has the same title,
will be published in China at the end of the month, by Beijing's
Jieli Publishing House, a publisher that specializes in children literature.

(10/31/07)
The Chinese distributor of the film has released three new film stills, all with Michelle.
Busy with her The Mummy 3 filming,
Michelle said yesterday that she has a small role and does not have much screen time in
The Children of Huang Shi, but she feels honored to participate
in a production with such
a meaningful theme. Asked about collaborating with Chow Yun-fat,
Michelle said she hopes to meet him at the premiere (they didn't
see each other during the production). According to the reports,
the post-production will be complete at the beginning of November.
The Chinese premiere is currently scheduled for March 2008 in Huangshi,
Hubei Province. On Sony's official site the U.S.release date is
marked as "TBD". Reportedly they just had a test screening in the east coast.

Michelle as a business woman

Michelle testing JonathanRhys Meyers

rebuking gangsters

(photos and captions from "Sina". click to enlarge)

(09/19/07)
Taiwanese news reported that Taiwan's Yan Zhi Yu Le is also a
co-production company for The Children of Huang Shi.
Two photos were released to media by the company .

Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat in "The Children of Huang Shi"
(click to enlarge. "UDN" photos)

(09/05/07)
Chinese media reported that the post-production of The Children of Huang Shi
is nearly finished and that the final cut can be expected to be completed
this month.

Director Roger Spottiswoode was flying around to re-record two dialogs
between Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Michelle. After finishing the sound
recording with Meyers in Dublin, Ireland, the director rushed on the 3rd
of September to Venice where Michelle has been attending the
Venice Film Festival, and re-did Michelle's lines. Meanwhile, Zhao
Xiaoding, the director of cinematography, is in Berlin doing the final
color mixing and adjusting.
(Photo at left: Michelle in "The Children of Huang Shi".
click to enlarge. "Tom")

(08/16/07)
According to China's "Dalian Evenings", the Chinese distributor Cheerland
said that the first cut of The Children of Huang Shi was completed last weekend.
Reportedly Sony is still considering pushing the film for the Oscars
and they may have a small scale limited release initially in some cities in
North America in order to qualify for the Academy Awards.

(08/13/07)
Multiple sources indicated that the worldwide release of The Children of Huang Shi
will be at early 2008 instead of late 2007. It has been reported that the premiere in China
has been set in March 2008. On Sony Classic's official site it says "TBD".
Australian Film Commission
listed that the film runs 100 minutes.

(07/25/07)
This photo, Australian actor David Wenham with some extras, was taken
in February on a set of The Children of Huang Shi in Shanghai
(click to enlarge). Here are
several short (YouTube) video clips taken by an extra on set during the filming:
clip 1clip 2clip 3clip 4.
&nbsp Director Roger Spottiswoode, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and
David Wenham can be seen. &nbsp
(Robin Maness Dickerson)

(07/16/07)
Post-production of The Children of Huang Shi has been taking place at
Melbourne's Digital Pictures
(daily telecine transfers, AVID suites). Chinese media reported that
director Roger Spottiswoode will start working on the final sound mixing
at the end of the month. Sound dubbing for children and some Chinese
actors have been recorded in Beijing.

(07/16/07)"Huang Shi" and "The Children of Huang Shi":

HUANGSHI (aka Huang Shi, literally translated as "Yellow Stone")
is landscaped among hills and lakes on the south bank
of the Yangtze River. The name "Huangshi" can be seen as recorded during
the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) although mining in the region was developed
as early as 1200 B.C.. During the period of 1930s (when the movie is set),
Huangshi was a town located in Daye County, Hubei Province, under the
rule of the Kuomintang government (the Nationalist party). In
October 1938, the Japanese army occupied the Huangshi region and controlled
it until Japan announced their surrender on August 15, 1945.
In 1949, soon after the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)
took control over the region, the government incorporated Huangshi
and a few other towns from Daye County and formed the
"Shihuiyao Industry Special Zone". In 1950, the government declared
the zone as an industrial city, which is the "Huangshi City" today.

When news of the filming of "The Children of Huang Shi" was heard,
Huangshi local government officials saw it as a good opportunity to
promote the city. They contacted the Chinese production company right
away and hoped some filming could be done in Huangshi itself. By that time the
production was already toward the end and there was no plan for the
production companies to actually shoot in Huangshi. Cheerland then
agreed to have the premiere held there.

What's the relationship between the film "The Children of Huang Shi"
and the real Huangshi (Huang Shi)? In the film's story, George Hogg spent
a year at Huangshi, Hubei Province, taking care of 60 war orphans there,
before leading the children on the long journey to safety
in late 1938. In the real history, George Hogg was the headmaster of a school
(Bailie School) in Shuangshipu, Shaanxi Province (not Hubei).
When Shaanxi was threatened by the Japanese advance, in the winter of
1944, Hogg made the decision to move the entire school to safety - by
foot and mule cart - and they traveled more
than 700 miles to Shandan, Gansu Province.
(related Location Map)

Upon hearing the filming news and film story, Reporters and Huangshi
local officials
tried to look for traces of the historical event. They tried to look for people
who had lived in the area during that period of time but were unable to find
anyone who has any memory of a foreigner saving Chinese children during
the war. In the local Annals, there is a record of a school,
called "Zhende School", which was built in 1931 by missionaries
and stopped running in the fall of 1938. Were those students war
orphans and where did they go? Today's Huangshi locals do not know.
It is possible the film is combining these two events
- the nameless heroes who helped to save the children of Huangshi, and
George Hogg's story.

Zhende school used to be next to a missionary hospital, some elderly
residents recalled. However, those old buildings no longer exist.

According to a current figure from local officials, today's
Huangshi city has a population of 2,476,400, with less than 4% of
them having received an education beyond high school.

(06/25/07)
A few more behind the scenes photos from the filming of The Children of Huang Shi.

(click to enlarge. photos from "Tom", "Baidu", "Hsdcw", and "Sina")

1. Director Roger Spottiswoode on a Hengdian filming set
2. Michelle (right) at Hengdian filming set in a raining day, Decemebr 2006
3. Chow Yun-Fat (right) in the Gansu filming
4. "time out" for naughty children on set, Gansu

(06/19/07)
On June 18th, Cheerland Entertainment, the Chinese distributor of
The Children of Huang Shi, held a press conference in Shanghai
during the Shanghai International Film Festival and announced that
the (Chinese?) premiere of the film will take place in March 2008
in Huangshi (Huang Shi) City, Hubei Province. There will be an international
charity gala and the main cast and crew members are expected to attend.

Some behind the scenes footage was shown at the press conference.
Chinese producer Zhang Wang (Er Yong) said the film is currently
under post-production. They are in the middle of the sound dubbing.
Director and a sound crew have been flying around and "chasing"
the actors for voice recording. They just finished the
sound dubbing with Chow Yun-Fat in Hong Kong. Michelle has yet
to do her part.
Some special effects will be done including digitally removing
some modern buildings which don't belong to the period.
The post-production is scheduled to be completed in September.
The Chinese producer mentioned that Sony Classics is going to push for an
Oscar campaign for the film.

Video
report on the press conference with Making of "The Children of Huang Shi"
(01:00, with Chinese narration)

press conference photos. posters can be seen in the background
authorities of Cheerland Entertainment and Huangshi officials
signing contract

set photos from the Gansu filming(click to enlarge. photos from "Sohu", ""QQ", "Hsdcw", and "Sina")

(06/13/07)
Synopsis:
The film tells the story of George Hogg (Rhys Meyers), a young British journalist, who rescues 60 orphaned children.
He leads them on a treacherous 1,000-mile journey along the Silk Road, through the Liu Pan Shan Mountains into the spectacular Gobi desert. Over the course of the journey he falls in love with a determined, self-trained nurse (Mitchell), and makes a friend in Chen (Chow), the leader of a Chinese partisan group. Madame Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a surviving aristocrat, assists in guiding them to safety in a remote village near the western end of China's Great Wall.
(Source: Sony Pictures Classics)

(06/13/07)
More set photos from the filming in Gansu Province:
(click to enlarge)

(05/27/07)
In addition to the
previously sold
film distribution rights in different
territories, Hyde Park International sold French rights to Metropolitan
and Spanish to DeA Planeta at the Cannes Film Market.

The Children of Huang Shi is currently under post-production.
Producer Jonathan Shteinman said more than half of the post-production
has been finished and the process has been going smoothly.

The story of CHILDREN OF THE HUANG SHI is set in war-ravaged China during
the late 1930's. It is a story of how a young Englishman, George Hogg
(Jonathan Rhys Meyers),
came to lead sixty orphaned children on an extraordinary and perilous journey
of almost a thousand miles across the snow-bound Liu Pan Shan mountains to
safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert. And of how, in doing so,
he grew to learn the true meaning of courage.

When George Hogg graduated from Oxford, he wanted to be a writer/journalist.
He arrived in Shanghai during his world tour and became a wartime journalist.
He did not realize the cruelty of the war until he witnessed the infamous
Nanking Massacre (during which an estimated 300,000 Chinese civilians were killed).
He wanted to report the horrible truth to the world but the pictures
he took were discovered by Japanese soldiers and he was arrested.
Jack Chen (Chow Yun-Fat), a West Point graduate and a military officer
of a communist guerrilla force, rescued him from under the Japanese's gun.
Hogg and Chen became friends. When the injured Hogg needed a place to
nurse his wounds, Chen was looking for a place where the English
speaker could safely stay. An Australian nurse, Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell),
suggested Huang Shi in Hubei Province.

In the beautiful mountains of Huang Shi lived some missionaries and
they hosted a home for some war orphans. When George Hogg arrived in Huang Shi,
the last missionary had just died of illness and he found 60 unruly orphaned boys
running around. The horrible experience in their lives made them disobedient.
Hogg did not like this place and he wanted to return to the real war frontier.
Lee Pearson suddenly left and he was left to take care of the children by
himself. A widowed aristocrat and local retail merchant, Madame Wang
(Michelle Yeoh), became his only help.

Hogg's effort had gained him love from the children by the time Chen and Pearson returned.
The war did not spare them. The Japanese army was approaching and the Nationalist Party
wanted the older boys to join the Chinese army to fight the Japanese.
Hogg decided the only escape for the boys was to travel to a safe haven
in the inner Mongolian desert.

George Hogg, Jack Chen, Lee Pearson, and the 60 children went on the
arduous 1,000 mile journey. They experienced the dangerous conditions
such as snowstorms and sandstorms and once they barely missed running
into Japanese soldiers face to face. Three adults, two men and one
woman, developed some relationships among each other.

They finally arrived in Shandan, Gansu Province. There they had planned to
build a new home and new school for the boys.
(Major spoiler warning - highlight the text in the brackets to read)
[
George Hogg caught tetanus from a minor injury he sustained from the journey.
They tried but failed to find blood serum to save him. He died at the age of 30.
]
(translated from Huang Shi's "Dongchu Evening News")

(04/30/07)
The Chinese magazine "Movie View" published some photos from the filming of The Children of Huang Shi
in Shanghai, taken by reporters during a set visit on February 11th.
(click on photos to enlarge)

smoke rises from within "Japanese leased territory"

Lugang Bridge which separates British and Japanese leased territories

half-burned roadblocks

flyers for missing people - mostly missing children

British guards on the south side of "Suzhou River"

David Wenham with the director

Jonathan Meyers with "soldiers"

extras

a burned vehicle

a shop on "Nanking Road" that was "opened" for the filming

a boat on the "Suzhou River"

the tramcar is a symbol of the Nanking Road in old times

The Children of Huang Shi was filmed in Shanghai only for four days - three days in
the Shanghai Film Studio, and one day for interior shooting at an old house in Shanghai city.
This was the last stop for their filming in China before they moved to Australia.

Michelle, Chow Yun-Fat and Radha Mitchell did not appear in the Shanghai shooting. Jonathan Rhys Meyers
was there. Australian actor David Wenham, who plays a small role in the film, joined the filming
team in Shanghai.

What was shot in Shanghai will be the beginning part of the film.
One of the scenes shot on February 11 was when a large number of refugees rushed from Japanese
leased territory in Shanghai to British leased territory. There were more than 200 extras on
set, among them more than 100 refugees, as well as Japanese and British soldiers, and westerners
who appeared in the leased territories.
(many thanks to "A Bird" for the magazine scans!)

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell with the childrenon a
Hengdian set (click to enlarge)

(03/14/07)
This is a photo of a film set for The Children of Huang Shi.
Built at Hengdian, it was used as a part of a town where George Hogg
witnessed an atrocity committed by Japanese soldiers. Reportedly building the set cost
about $2,000,000. (click to enlarge. "Hengdian World Studios")

(02/28/07)
The production of The Children of Huang Shi has wrapped.
The planned release date is Christmas 2007.

(click to enlarge. image from "Zero West")

(02/16/07)
"ScreenDaily" reported filming of The Children of Huang Shi
in China, which started November 13 last year in Gansu Province, ended
in Shanghai on February 16.

The production involved taking the children and a 300-strong crew into
the mountains of the remote Gansu Province in the cold weather. However,
a bigger challenge was finding period buildings. It is surprisingly
difficult to find older buildings in China and the few that still
exist have often been fixed up in a way that makes them less useable,
says a producer of the film. "But the natural locations are
wonderful. We shot in the Gobi (Gebi) desert, three hours from Dunhuang,
and the scenery was spectacular."

(02/16/07)
At the European Film Market during the Berlin Film Festival,
Hyde Park International, who handles foreign sales of the film,
just closed a number of deals on the film distibution rights including:
Metropolitan (France), MGM (CIS), Paris Films (Brazil), Gussi (all
remaining Latin American rights), Village Roadshow (Greece), RCV
(Benelux), Lusomundo (Portugal), Modus Vivendi (Eastern Europe),
Aqua Pinema (Turkey), and Phars (Middle East). Sony Classics has
the North American rights.

(02/14/07)
- Filming of The Children of Huang Shi in China is expected
to finish soon.

- A few more video, with some footage from the film, can been seen
at the newly created Video section.

- A Forgotten English Hero.
An interesting story by James MacManus on his
initial drafts of the script. (Jane's notes: (1) The capital of China
was Nanjing (Nanking) at that time, not Beijing. (2)
The regional capital and a staging post on the old Silk Road to the West,
"Lanchow", is called Lanzhou today, and that's where the part of the
filming took place last year.)

(02/10/07)
Chinese media published some interviews done last month with some cast
and crew members at Hengdian.

Director Roger Spottiswoode said he was attracted by the story as soon
as he heard of it several years ago. "It's about a country I had little
knowledge of. A man from my home country went to this foreign land, during
that special period. These are the two elements which really attracted
me."

Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell talked about working with Michelle,
who was not at Hengdian when the production team met with the press
last month. Jonathan Rhys Meyers said Michelle is an outstanding
actress. "She is very beautiful, and very calm."
He said he has seen many of her movies including
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the 007 feature. Radha Mitchell said
Michelle is very cool although she has a very warm personality. She
said she felt great whenever Michelle was present. "In the movie,
Michelle sells medicines to us. The relationship between us is friendship.
Meanwhile I'm depending on her."

The Children of Huang Shi starts from Shanghai and travels with
George Hogg, the British journalist, to Nanking where he tries to report
the truth of the Nanking Massacre. In the process he was captured by Japanese
soldiers. After being rescued by Jake Chen, he met 60 children orphaned from the
war and took charge of them, with the aid of an Australian nurse.
They stayed in Huangshi (Huang Shi), Hubei Province for a couple of years. When
the war approached, they traveled across the country to the Gebi dessert
and led the children to safety.

Some scenes from Huangshi and Nanking are filmed in Hengdian World Studios
("Jiangnan Water Country" and "Nanking Streets District")
and in the surrounding areas as well. Some of the main sets include the
orphanage and the ruins of Nanking which was built at a broken-down old factory.

(02/01/07)
According to the "Chuzhou Evening", The Children of Huang Shi filmed
at Xiandu, Zhejiang Province for a few more days (around 23rd and
28th) in addition to the Xiandu filming they did last December (with
Michelle) and January 12th (with Chow Yun-Fat). They filmed in
Xiandu for a total of 15 days. On January 30th, they finished the
last day of filming there, and the production team returned to the
Hengdian World Studio. Filming at the studio will continue until
February 9 before heading to Shanghai. An orphanage set was built at
an old ancestral temple in Tiecheng, Xiandu, which is one of the
important settings for the film. After more than 20 media visited
the filming sets when Michelle was in Xiandu last December, the
"Chuzhou Evening" was the only media who managed to visit the
set once (on Jan. 12). Filming in China is expected to wrap up
before the Chinese New Year.

(01/22/07)
On January 21st, a press conference for The Children of Huang Shi
was held in Hengdian, where the production has been taking place since last
month. It was attended by some of the children actors and all of the lead actors
except for Michelle, who has already finished her scenes and is currently in Europe
filming Babylon A.D..

Although Chow Yun-Fat, who plays a supporting role in the film, tried to get
the reporters' attention to shift to Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell,
the two main leads, reporters kept their focus on Chow. Most of the questions
toward Chow were not about The Children of Huang Shi but about a recent
"fight" he's involuntarily involved with a Chinese producer on another project.
Even with translators' help, Meyers and Mitchell had no idea what they were
talking about.

About three minutes of footage from the film was played to the press. The
world premiere of the film is currently scheduled to be held in Huang Shi
(Huangshi, Hubei Province) in November. The children characters in the film are
supposed to have stayed in Huang Shi, although no filming is planned to
take place there.

A video
of the press conference. A few scenes from the film are shown. In
Mandarin Chinese.

(01/17/07)
Some still images for The Children of Huang Shi, published by Sony.
They are from early filming in Gansu Province.

About the train explosion scenes: [Spoiler]&nbsp
It was filmed at a train station in Lanzhou. In the story, a train which was full of KMT
(Kuo-Min-Tang, the Nationalist party) soldiers was about to depart
when a Japanese air-raid struck. Chow Yun-Fat's character, a communist
military officer, advised the KMT officer to let the soldiers out
and get into shelter. The KMT officer refused. Bombs dropped on the
train and the cars caught fire. Chow and Jonathan Rhys Meyers's
characters rushed to the rescue. They unlocked the door, which was
locked from the outside, and let the soldiers escape. (Jane's note:
the story is published by mainland Chinese media. If it is true, it really
sounds like a story from the Chinese communist authority, who always tries
to paint the Nationalist party either as cruel or stupid...)

(01/14/07)
On January 12th, the production team for The Children of Huang Shi, including
Chow Yun-Fat, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Radha Mitchell, was seen in Tiecheng, Xiandu, where
they did three days of filming back in last December when Michelle was in Hengdian.

An old ancestral temple in Xiazhang Village is used as the orphanage in the film.
27 children actors who came to Xiandu are chosen among more than 60,000 candidates from
Los Angeles, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

A "Chuzhou Evening" reporter visited filming set and described a scene
with Chow Yun-Fat, who dressed as a farmer, in an abandoned old house
in Xiazhang Village. Filming in Xiandu will last for another three days,
and the team may return to the location later this month for more
shooting. After Hengdian, production will move to Shanghai before
going to Melbourne later in February.

Chow Yun-Fat in Xiandu

the orphanage set in Tiecheng, Xiandu

(1) children having lunch on set
(2) 12 year old Zhai Xiaoguang, a student in a performing school, is from Hebei Province
(3) this is not an ordinary sheep - it "acted" in Dunhuang scenes too

("Lishan News" photos. click to enlarge)

(01/09/07)
More promotion and set photos from The Children of Huang Shi: (click to enlarge. "QQ" photos)

From Hengdian: &nbsp &nbsp Michelle Yeoh

Jonathan Meyers

Jonathan Meyers

Radha Mitchell &nbsp &nbsp (Gansu)

(12/22/06)Video:
interviews with Michelle and director Roger Spottiswoode at the Hengdian filming
set (3:01. in Mandarin. may need to use IE to watch.).

Michelle said she found the character interesting when the director
talked with her about the story more than four years ago. Spottiswoode
said: "In Tomorrow Never Dies Michelle had many action scenes. On the one hand
it might have restricted the development of her own character. I always hoped there would
be an opportunity which allows her to express more of her own character and inner world.
This is why I chose Michelle to portray Madame Wang."

Nearly ten years have passed since they made Tomorrow Never Dies.
"She looks younger and more beautiful now," said Spottiswoode, "and her performances
are even more impressive." Michelle said: "We are all ten years older. I haven't seen Roger for
a long time. When I saw him on Saturday (the 9th) he looked very tired. They
had been filming in Gansu for five weeks and it was tough shoot."

More set photos (click photos w/borders to enlarge. from "Ming Pao",
"Sina", "Sohu" and "Tungstar"):

Michelle at the Hengdian filming set

Michelle with director Roger Spottiswoode

Spottiswoode, Michelleand Meyers

Michelle and Meyerson the tea scene

Jonathan Meyers

Chow Yun-Fat (Gansu)

The Hengdian set photos were taken last week. This week, with neither Michelle nor Chow Yun-Fat
on set, local reporters basically left the filming team alone.

(12/18/06)
CCTV, the central government's official TV station in mainland China, aired on
Dec. 17th a program about the film, focusing on Chow Yun-Fat's
character, who is a West Point graduate and a military officer
of the communist New Fourth Army. They reported that Chow will have
in total seven sets of costumes in the film, including Western-style
clothing, a fur coat (seen in released photos) for the Silk-Road
journey, and the communist New Fourth Army uniform.
(For information on the true roles of the Chinese Communist Party
(the CCP) and the Nationalist party (the KMT) please see
Fact Sheets. As we have pointed out, during
the anti-Japanese war, the main focus of the CCP was expanding their
power base against the then KMT government, who was essentially alone
on the front lines battling the Japanese. But the textbooks of the
CCP constantly claim to this day that the KMT did not resist the
Japanese, and that it was the CCP that led the country to the great victory
in the war.)

(12/18/06)
Director Roger Spottiswoode said in an interview that he met Chow Yun-Fat
ten years ago through Michelle. Five years ago, Spottiswoode talked about
this project with Michelle and Chow, and both of them agreed to star.

In an interview of Radha Mitchell, she said she's very excited about
working with Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
is my favorite Chinese language film. They teamed up perfectly," said Mitchell.

(12/14/06)
Video (links
1 or
2):
behind the scenes at Hengdian, and interviews with Michelle Yeoh and Radha Mitchell
(6:25. in Mandarin and English. may need to use IE to watch.)

The video shows the filming of a scene when Madame Wang (Michelle) and George Hogg
(Jonathan Meyers) sit together drinking afternoon tea and discussing a book.

(video scan. click to enlarge)

Unlike the sneak reports during the Gansu filming with which reporters got
by using "spies", in Hengdian the production companies invited
some media members for set visits (there will be two organized set visits
- one in the middle of December and another in February) and arranged
media interviews with Michelle, Jonathan Meyers, and Radha Mitchell.
Meyers's agent canceled his at the last moment. Reportedly both Meyers
and Mitchell caught bad colds when they were in Gansu.
After moving to Zhejiang Province, Mitchell is fine but
Meyers is unaccustomed to the climate and has been ill.

On the first day (13th) of the set visit, some filming was taken place at
the Luzhai Ming & Qing Dynasty ancient group buildings in Dongyang, near
the Hengdian World Studio. The next day, the filming team was at Tiecheng, a
scenic spot in Xiandu, Zhejiang Province and shot some exterior scenes
of Madame Wang's house.

Michelle as Madame Wang in "The Children of Huang Shi"
(click to enlarge. photos from "QQ" and "News365")

Michelle has to finish all her scenes (about 30 to 40 of them) this week.
The schedule is very tight. At the end of her 30 minute interview on set,
Michelle's assistant kept asking reporters to wrap it up, since Michelle
had not had lunch yet (it was after 1:30PM) and the only time she
could eat something was during the 10 minutes when reporters interviewed the director.

Reportedly all of the four main leads - Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Chow Yun-Fat,
Radha Mitchell, and Michelle, are involved in some romances in the film.
(hmm... should I give out spoilers on who's with whom?)
For more details on the interview with Michelle, please see
News.

(12/13/06)
It was not a large-scale press conference, but several media was permitted
to visit the filming set in Hengdian. The Shanghai newspaper "Dongfang Daily"
interviewed some of the cast and crew members.

Director Roger Spottiswoode said he started to prepare this film seven
years ago. He was deeply touched by the story and he said as a British
man he feels he understands George Hogg's experience. He is very
interested in that part of Chinese history. "I have been trying for
many years to get funding. Finally we have got everything and got the
film started." He said that although he has made some commercial films,
what he really wanted to do was to make independent films where the
director is allowed to have better control over the production. The
last version of the script was finished by Spottiswoode himself. Reportedly
when he was writing the script, Spottiswoode was using Michelle and Chow
Yun-Fat as the real models for the main Chinese characters in the
film, Madame Wang and Jack Chen.
"After Tomorrow Never Dies,
I have always wanted to make a 'real' movie with Michelle, and
give her a rich character to portray," he said. "Now it's the time."

Michelle has only one week before heading to her U.S./French
actioner Babylon A.D.. She is
here in Hengdian to fulfill her "promise" to Spottiswoode. "He asked
me a long time ago," Michelle said, "and he hopes
I will act in this film. Luckily my schedule allows me to have one week."
Michelle's character is a business woman who is an aristocratic widow.
On the filming set, she was dressed in elegant qipao (cheongsam).
[Spoiler warning]
Although in the announcement there is a scene in which Michelle is rescuing
Jonathan Meyers from jail, Michelle will have no action scenes in the
film. "I can't fight in this dress," smiled Michelle. When reporters
used the words "patriot" and "glorious" to describe her character,
Michelle deferred: "I only hope to show the audience how a woman
survives on her own efforts in that period of time."

Although it has been a big news that Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat will co-star
once more in a film six years after their smashing
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,
Michelle said she's not sure whether she will see Chow Yun-Fat, a good friend
of hers, this time at all since she will only stay for
a short time on the filming. When Spottiswoode discussed with her
about the candidates for the Chinese male lead, Michelle "made the decision"
for the director: "In my heart, Fa-Ge (Brother Fa/Fat) is the best."
(Note: latest media news said Chow Yun-Fat will skip the Beijing premiere
of Curse of the Golden Flower on the 14th due to
The Children of Huang Shi. Maybe he will meet with Michelle
this time after all!)

Zhao Xiaoding, the cinematographer of the film (whose previous work include
Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers and Curse of the Golden Flower),
also accepted reporters' interview. He said as a film about a war, they are
using realistic styles for the camera work.

(12/12/06)
According to the Shanghai newspaper "Dongfang Daily", Michelle, Jonathan Meyers,
and Radha Mitchell will meet the media on the 13th in Hengdian,
Zhejiang Province, where the filming of The Children of Huang Shi is continuing.

According to the report, Hengdian filming will last until mid-February.
In addition to the Hengdian World Studios, many scenes will also be
shot in the surrounding areas. Because of Michelle's tight schedule,
shooting is right now concentrating on her scenes.
Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat have not shown up on the set together
yet since Chow just started the promotion tour of his new film, Curse of the Golden Flower.
Chow will return to the filming later.

(12/11/06)
Came across this interesting advertisement on
craigslist.org.
They were looking for actors who look like Radha Mitchell and
Jonathan Meyers "from (the) side". "Because they are so busy." The post
was from early November.

Also, in September, there were Chinese advertisements looking for
the "third female lead" for the film. The description was:
"Actress. Age 55-70. Thin and dark, with an image of toiling masses."

[Spoiler warning]
According to recent Chinese reports, the story of The Children of Huang Shi
starts with George Hogg, a British journalist, going to Japanese invaded
Nanjing (Nanking, the then China's capital city) and trying to report
the massacre to the world and getting captured by the Japanese. Jake Chen
(Chow Yun-Fat) rescues him. When Hogg escapes, he meets a group
of 60 children, orphaned by the massacre. After the recent death
of the director of the orphanage, the children were temporarily
under the care of an Australian nurse, Lee (Radha Mitchell). The
situation of the war gets worse. With the help of a kindhearted
lady, Madame Wang (Michelle), they escape from Japanese soldiers
and go on a difficult journey along the Silk Road to get the
children to a safe haven.

In the early reports from last year, Michelle's character was described
as "a kindhearted village woman who would sacrifice her own life to save
the children". Newer reports suggest her character is actually
a business woman (no word on her fate). Filming is expected to last until February.

(12/08/06)
Michelle said in an interview on the 6th that she will join the
filming team on Saturday in Hangzhou, which is the capital city
of Zhejiang Province and around 2-3 hours north of Hengdian.

(12/07/06)
On the 6th, The Children of Huang Shi filmed the last scenes in
Lanzhou at the old Governor's building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family with
Chow Yun-Fat, Jonathan Meyers and Radha Mitchell. The filming team boarded
a plane to the Eastern China on the 7th. All filming in Gansu Province,
which started on Nov. 13, is complete.

(12/04/06)
According to "Western Economic Daily", the filming in Lanzhou
will be finished on the 6th.

Since the names of Jonathan Meyers and Radha Mitchell are not very
well known in China, the local media is more interested in Chow Yun-Fat
and Michelle Yeoh. Michelle is not involved in the Gansu shooting, so
Chow is the absolute focus. Reporters have tried to follow everything
- from Chow's hotel room, his bodyguards, to all the scenes that are shot
with him. Reportedly Chow Yun-Fat's Gansu part is scheduled to finish
on the 4th.

More photos from the train station:

(photos from "Xin Bao" and "Sina". click to enlarge)

(11/30/06)
The snow in Lanzhou caused a couple of days of delay to the production.
Filming is continuing in Gansu. Dong Da Si (East Temple) is being used as
an orphanage. Scenes shot at the old Governor's building of the Mongol Chieftain
Lu Family are mainly for a temporary field hospital. On the 29th, a
train explosion scene was filmed. It showed Chow Yun-Fat's character
saving some KMT soldiers from the burning train. 300 KMT soldiers were
played by armed police officers. The train was made of plywood.

Actress Jin Shuyuan, 73, who played the first wife in Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern(1991), plays an old nursemaid in the orphanage.

Local reporters seem determined to cover every scene shot in the
Lanzhou area. They described the scenes in detail and keep giving out
all kinds of spoilers about the film without hesitation and any
warnings, including [the death of certain character]
&nbsp (spoiler warning - highlight the text in the brackets if you would
like to read).

(11/27/06)
Qixinran (Cheerland Entertainment Organization), the
Chinese distribution company of The Children of Huang Shi,
has released the first round of official set photos to the media.
(click on photos to enlarge)

After local Chinese reporters took and published photos of the filming
sets without permission, the filmmakers tightened the security
on the set. There have been reports of (minor) conflicts between
the security people and reporters/locals. Not allowed on
the filming sets, local reporters complained about the
production team. One newspaper even said: "What kind of authority
do these people think they have? Who gave them the right to stop reporters'
work?" and "According to Chinese law, the media has the right to interview
and report news events. No one should stop the normal work of reporters!"

(This sadly shows us some of the truth: many reporters from mainland
China do not realize there exist rules which they are supposed to follow, other
than the direct orders from the CCP government. It is so ironic when mainland
Chinese media actually claims China has laws that protect them for reporting
news events. Don't they remember that there are so many important events the CCP government
forbids them to report and they have to say exactly what the government
instructs them to say? China has the largest number of
journalists in jail for trying to report the truth.)

(11/27/06)
Several days of unexpected snow fell upon The Children of Huang Shi's
Liancheng shooting. Filmmakers were excited and shot some scenes with
children marching in snow in mountainous regions.

The snow made the mountain roads more dangerous. They used 1,500 kg
of salt to melt the snow on mountain roads. On the 25th, when the team was
heading to Dong Da Si (East Temple), an electric generator truck
slipped from the hilly road, slid to the bottom, and ended up upside down
(photo).
No injuries were reported. After Lanzhou local newspapers reported the
accident, the news has been spreading on Chinese media like a snow
ball and the titles of the reports became more and more scary:
"Chow Yun-Fat on set, vehicle turned over", "Vehicle turned over,
Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh not seriously hurt" - even though
no actor was involved in the accident and Michelle was not even
in China - she is currently in Paris preparing to start shooting her next big actioner
Babylon A.D..

In the news release from a production company, it says Chow Yun-Fat's
role in The Children of Huang Shi is not the leader of a communist
guerrilla force as most of the Chinese reports previously claimed. Chow plays a
man who returned to China from abroad in order to
defend his country. In the published photos, he is not dressed as
a communist military officer. Hong Kong newspapers reported
that Chow Yun-Fat will stay in Gansu until December 7th.

As for Michelle, according to the media, she does not have a main
role but nevertheless her character is important and interesting. They say
she will not appear as an action heroine but as a "black widow".

Chow Yun-Fat and the children on shooting set
(photos from "Gansu Daily". click to enlarge)

(11/25/06)
Lanzhou local newspapers have continued following the production
although reporters are supposedly not allowed to get close to the
shooting. Some scenes involving 200 extras were filmed in front the
governor's building and on Liancheng streets.

Chow Yun-Fat joined filming in Lanzhou on the 23rd. His first scene which
was shot in Liancheng was at Niuzhan Dapo (Hills) when he was protecting the
children from bandits.

According to Chinese media, the film is aiming to release November 2007.

(1) Having a Chinese lunch
(2) Lanzhou actor Shen Bin (left) plays the chief of police
(3) Reporters got a far shot of Chow Yun-Fat from more than 200 meters away
(4) A filming set

(photos from "Lanzhou Evenings". click to enlarge.)

(11/21/06)
Filming of The Children of Huang Shi has been moved to Liancheng.
In the morning of the 20th, the Liancheng shooting started at
the Governor building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family. The first
scene shot there was Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell asking
a local for directions.

Chow Yun-Fat has not been spotted at Liancheng on the 21st. But the
Chinese newspaper "Xin Bao" reported a double of Chow's has already joined,
and has participated in the shooting of certain fight scenes inside the building.

Despite the beautiful historical buildings, Gansu's Liancheng is not
a famous tourist spot. It is a big event for the local residents
to have such a large film production taking place in town - and with
foreigners, no less. Those who are chosen as extras are envied by the
others. They get paid 35 Yuan (about US$4.40) per day.

(11/16/06)The Children of Huang Shi has been filming in the desert near Dunhuang city,
including at the Mingsha Sand Dunes (Singing-sand Mountain), Mogao Grottoes, and
at the Yadan land formations - in fact, the very scenery we have seen
in Michelle's 2002
The Touch(some details and pics on the locations can be found in the
"The Touch" news report of 10/06/01
and "The Touch" Production Facts
).
Chinese media reported that filming will move to Liancheng, Lanzhou
on the 17th. The film tells the story of George Hogg who led 60 orphaned children on
an epic journey across the Liu Pan Shan mountains to safety on the edge of the Mongolian desert.
It seems like they are filming the ending part first.

The main shooting locations in Gansu Province are around Dunhuang and
Lanzhou. One of the "hiding" places for the children will be Dong Da Si (East Temple,
see pictures at right) at the Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County in the middle of
Gansu Province. They will be shooting four days there.

Chow Yun-Fat will be joining the shooting in Gansu, mainly in Liancheng, for 7 days,
starting around the 20th. Choosing local extras has started yesterday in Liancheng.
40 of the children have been chosen from a Beijing performing school. 20 children will
be chosen in Liancheng locally.

Michelle will not have any scenes in the Gansu filming.

After Gansu, production will move to the Hengdian World Studios in southeast
China in mid-December. Michelle's main scenes will be shot there. There will
be no romantic relationship between Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat this time, according
to the Chinese media. Set construction has been taking place at the "Guangzhou
Street District" and "Jiangnan Water Country" in the studios. Some filming will also
take place in Shanghai and Nanjing (Nanking).

(11/14/06)
"Lanzhou Evenings" (China) reported that the production of The Children of Huang Shi started on the 13th
in the Mingsha Mountains of Dunhuang, Gansu Province. 40 children, ages ranging from 9 to 14, were chosen from local schools
to play the orphans in the film. Reportedly a scene of some armed bandits chasing trucks which carried the children
was shot yesterday afternoon. According to the report, filming will move to Liancheng, Gansu next week.

Dunhuang children playing the orphans

Director Roger Spottiswoode with male lead Jonathan Rhys Meyers

(photos from "Lanzhou Evenings". click to enlarge.)

(11/09/06)
After a fine of 20,000 Yuan, permission for filming at the Governor
building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family in Liancheng was given by
the authorities to the Children of Huang Shi team on Nov. 7.
Set construction at the location will be resumed soon. A Chinese
producer said the incident would not cause a big delay of the
production. Chinese media reported production will start on the 13th at
Jiayuguan Pass, an entrance of the Great Wall in Gansu, and Dunhuang.
The locations in Lanzhou also include a train station, West
Mountain, and the Datong River, which will include scenes of
transferring 60 children.

(11/02/06)
Filming of The Children of Huang Shi will start at Liancheng,
Lanzhou, Gansu Province in the middle of this month. Local Chinese
media are excited about the upcoming project in town. They reported that
set construction has started a few days ago at the old Governor building
of Mongol Chieftain Lu Family in Liancheng, Yongdeng County, Gansu and they
managed to snap some shots.

The scene that is planned to be shot at Liancheng is when the team of
children come to rest at the local governor's courtyard. Reportedly
Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Chow Yun-Fat will join the Liancheng
shooting. Michelle will not be there since she does not
have any scene in that part.

However, not everything is running smoothly, according to reports. The
local Yongdeng government yesterday ordered the set building to be stopped
since, according to the official, the application from the production team
about the set building at the location has not been approved yet.

Some photos of a filming set - the old Governor building of the Mongol Chieftain Lu Family:

(photos from "Lanzhou Evenings". click to enlarge)

(10/31/06)
"The Australian"
reported that the child leader role went to a 16 year old Sydney
school boy, Guang Li, who speaks both English and Mandarin.
He will spend more than three months with his mother in mainland China
for the filming. Shooting locations include Lanzhou (Gansu Province),
the Gobi Desert, Shanghai, the Hengdian World Studios (Zhejiang Province) and,
next year, Melbourne.

The story is about 60 war orphans who are led nearly 1600km to safety
by a young English writer, an Australian nurse and a "Chinese communist sympathiser,"
according to the report. It is the first official co-production
between China and Australia. By cooperating with the Chinese
communist government, it will be counted as a local film, thus avoiding the
restrictions placed on foreign films in Chinese cinemas.

(10/30/06)
According to "Dongfang Daily" (China), Qixinran, the Chinese
distributor of the film, confirmed the filming will start next month.
Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle will join the shooting at the end of November
and mid-to-late December respectively. The report says the replacement
of main lead actor Brendan Fraser with Jonathan Rhys Meyers
happened around May or June since the new shooting date did not
fit with Fraser's schedule.

(10/27/06)
It has been announced that the production of The Children of Huang Shi
(Chinese title: The Bitter Sea) is scheduled to start on November 13.

The Australian-Chinese-German co-production is to be directed by British
director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies, Under Fire).
The historical drama is based on the true story of George Hogg, a
British journalist who rescued scores of children during Japan's 1937
invasion of China. The film will depict George Hogg (Irish actor
Jonathan Rhys Meyers), with the assistance of an Australian nurse
(Australian actress Radha Mitchell), rescuing a group of orphaned
children. Faced with advancing Japanese troops, he leads the children
on a 1,000-mile arduous trek across China to a safe haven.

Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat will both appear in the film. According to
Chinese media, Chow will play the leader of a guerrilla force which is
fighting against the Japanese. Michelle will star in the film as a
village woman who helps the children escape from the Japanese army.

Director Roger Spottiswoode has been preparing this film for at least
five years. Previously the script was written by Paul Haggis and the
production was set to begin last year with Brendan Fraser playing
George Hogg. As a friend of Spottiswoode's, Michelle agreed to star
in the film even though she did not have a major role.
We started to follow this project as early as June of 2005 on this site
(News) when Brendan Fraser
talked during his visit to China about the possible opportunity of
working with Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat. Fraser went with director
Spottiswoode for some location scouting, and he even said that being
able to work with Michelle and Chow Yun-Fat was a great surprise and
honor. Radha Mitchell's name was attached to the project last year as
well. Since then I had heard that the production date has been pushed
back several times, due to some funding problems.

During the past year we have seen the advertisements which looking for
child actors in Singapore, Australia, and China. A tougher search was
for a 15 year old Chinese boy to play the leader of the group of
starving orphaned children who are the subject of the film. The final
script was written by Jane Hawksley. Filming locations include the
western Province of Gansu, the Hengdian World Studios in south-east
China, and Melbourne, Australia. Filming is expected to last until
February 2007 and post-production will take place in Australia and
Germany. The film is set to release internationally in 2007.

* While I'm eager to see a good epic on the period of the Japanese invasion, I
sincerely hope the project will not be used for pleasing the Chinese
communist authority. Some earlier Chinese reports indicated Chow Yun-Fat's role
might be a communist military commander. Remember that the official
Chinese government at that time was led by the Nationalist party
(the KMT), and it was the KMT who led the country, with international
assistance (after 1941), in defeating the Japanese invaders. The Chinese communist
party (the CCP) has been trying hard to change this part of history
and make people believe it was they who saved China from the invaders
and not the KMT (who retreated to Taiwan in 1949 when the CCP seized
power), in order to "prove" their legitimacy over the country.

Fact Sheets:
1.
The nation-wide anti-Japanese war lasted eight years from 1937 to 1945. The total
death toll of Chinese people caused by the Japanese invasion is
estimated between 20 to 35 million. It significantly weakened the
then Chinese government, led by the KMT (Kuo-Min-Tang, the Nationalist Party).
Former CCP (Chinese Communist Party) leader Mao Zedong thanked Japanese
militarists three times for the "help" provided by the Japanese
invasion of China, which made possible the Communist victory in 1949.
Under the 57 years of the "peaceful" rule of the CCP, 60 to 80 million
innocent Chinese people have been killed, due to various
"political movements".
2.
During the Japanese invasion, the central focus of the CCP was to
sustain its own power rather than ensuring the survival of the
nation. After the Japanese occupied the city of Shenyang on September 18,
1931, thereby extending their control over large areas in northeastern
China, the CCP fought shoulder to shoulder with Japanese invaders to
defeat the KMT. Even at the most critical moment of national calamity,
it incited people to oppose the KMT government.
3.
The KMT army was essentially alone on the front lines while fighting
the Japanese, losing over 200 marshalls in the war. The CCP only had
a few battles with the Japanese away from the front lines and the commanding
officers on the CCP side bore nearly no losses. The CCP did not make
much of a contribution to the war against the Japanese at all. Instead,
they spent their energy expanding their power base. However, the textbooks
of the CCP constantly claim to this day that the KMT did not resist
the Japanese, and that it was the CCP that led the great
victory in the anti-Japanese war.